


Age Difference

by thinkfirst



Series: Sleep [5]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 14:15:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2735645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thinkfirst/pseuds/thinkfirst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another part to the Sleep Series. From a prompt, but I lost the link and can't find it.</p>
<p>Everyone one thinks that Merrill is the youngest in the group but what if it she wasn't. What if she was the oldest and Anders was the youngest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Age Difference

**Author's Note:**

> No beta, so there are going to be some mess ups. Sorry.
> 
> If you like the story let me know and if you see any problems let me know.
> 
> There is no underage sex just mentioned and implied.

Isabale leans against the wall next to Merrill’s front door and she can’t stop the smirk that crosses her face as she watches the little mage shift in her seat uncomfortably as her swivels back and forth blinking owlish at herself and Hawke. For the last half hour the warrior has been staring intently at Merrill, unbeknownst to the blood mage Hawke is trying to figure out her age. 

Ten minutes later Merrill jumps and lets out the cutest little squeak when Hawke suddenly blurts out, “Twenty-Two!”

Merrill blinks at Hawke a few more times before she asks, “Twenty-two what?”

The warrior smiles at her sometimes lover and explains, “I am really good at figuring out how old people are. I even figured out Isabela’s age…” before she can continue the Pirate Queen cuts her off with a serious look on her face as she growls out,

“And you will keep that to yourself if you don’t want to sleep by yourself for a week,”

Hawke looks at Isabela with a hurt look on her face before she starts saying, “I wasn’t…” but trials off when Isabela raises one eyebrow at her. The warrior sighs, “Okay so I was but I’m not now,”

Merrill watches the exchange silently looking between the two women whose bed she share on occasion before she clears her thought and says, “You’re wrong,”

Isabela and Hawke stop midsentence and they both look at Merrill slightly confused before Merrill elaborates, “You’re wrong about my age. I’m not twenty-two. I’m thirty-nine,”

The Rogue and Warrior turn their heads slowly to look at Merrill with shock clear on their faces. 

Hawke is the first one to speak as she squeaks out, “Thirty-Nine? That means you are older than Varric,”

Isabela squeezes her eyes shut as she shakes her head “That means she is older than both of us Hawke,” 

 

Merrill’s ears drop a little before in a small voice asks, “Is that a bad thing?”

Hawke and Isabela jump at Merrill’s voice and look at the little elf and instantly move to her and they take her in their arms as Hawke says, “No Merrill that isn’t a bad thing at all it is just surprising,”

Merrill sighs before smiling at the two woman who hold a special place in her heart. She hugs them back with a large smile on her face. They let go and step back from the mage before they each give her a quick kiss on the lips before Hawke says, “I think we should get going if we don’t want to miss the first hand,”

Merrill smiles at them before jumping up and hurries into her bedroom where she left her staff. After putting her staff on her they head out the door which she locks behind her. As they make their way to the Hanged Man Merrill looks at the two women chewing on her lip before she asks, “Do you think I am older than everyone else?”

Hawke and Isabela stop and look back at Merrill for a second causing her to shift from one foot to the other before Hawke finally says, “I don’t know. I thought I was good at guessing ages but now I’m not so sure I was right about my previous guesses. So why don’t we just asks everyone their ages,”

Isabela scoffs at her lover before putting her hands on her hips as she says, “Where is the fun in that. Why don’t we make a game of it, whoever gets the most of our friends to gives them their ages gets a night of amazing sex,”

Hawke rolls her eyes at Isabela before she says, “We are going to have amazing sex anyways. So no. We will just ask them,”

Isabela and Merrill with the cutest pouting look they both can muster drawing a groan of annoyance from the warrior before she sighs, “We are not going to make a game of this,” She rolls her eyes at the two women when they whine in the back of their throats. She shakes her head at them before continuing, “But we will make a bet. We will each name each of our friends oldest to youngest and the winner gets whatever they want,”

Hawke lets out an exasperated sigh at the confused look on her lovers’ faces before explaining, “Okay I will start, oldest to youngest; Varric, Aveline, Anders, Sebastian and Fenris. If I win I want us to spend the whole day at that new Orlesian spa that opened in Hightown. I want us to have a whole day of pampering and the recipe for Dalish Venison Stew,”

Hawke frowns when the little elf’s ears drop a little as she beings fiddling with her hands and looking everywhere but the two humans. Worry quickly fills her and she steps forward taking Merrill by the shoulders as she asks, “What’s wrong Merrill? If the recipe is really that important to you I don’t need it,”

Merrill looks up at Hawke with small sad smile before giving her head a small shake as she says, “No it’s not that. I don’t think I will be allowed into the spa,”

Hawke wants to punch herself for not thinking about that, Maker she hates the bloody Orlesians. The bunch of stuck up bastards who look down their noses at every one. Well they aren’t going to make her Merrill sad and she will make sure they all go to that Spa no matter what. She pulls back and gives Merrill a quick kiss before she says, “Well if they refuse to let you in I will destroy their reputation. I am the Bloody Champion of Kirkwall and if I bad mouth that Spa they will go out of business faster than Orlesian fashion,”

Merrill perks up at that and bounces on the balls of her feet clapping her hands with a large smile on her face as he hears perk up before throwing her arms around the Warrior and gives her a hard kiss on the lips. After breaking the kiss she calms down and steps back from the human as she says, “I think that Anders is the oldest than Varric, Aveline, Fenris and I think Sebastian is the youngest. As for what I want…We spend a whole day in the lovely field of flowers at the base of Sundermount. You know the one that leads to the Wounded Coast,”

Isabela smirks at the two women who mean more to her then life itself but she will never admit out loud. She shifts her weight to her right foot as she places her hands on her hips and says, “Alright I’ll play along just be ready to pay up when I win. Okay so Anders is the oldest, there is no way someone with his talents and knowledge is under thirty, then Aveline, Varric, Sebastian and Fenris. As for my reward. We will spend the whole day at the Rose,”

Hawke smiles at her the two women before saying, “Alright let’s see who’s right,”

As they make their way toward the Hanged Man Hawke is pulled to a stop by Merrill’s voice as she asks, “What if we are all wrong?”

Hawke and Isabela frown at each other before looking at Merrill for a few seconds before Isabela says with a shrug of her shoulders, “Whoever is the closest wins,”

Merrill and Hawke voice their agreement before they all continue on their way to the Hanged Man.

~Hanged Man~   
~Varric’s Suite~ 

Varric lets out an annoyed sigh as he looks away from Aveline after once again unsuccessfully getting her help in obtaining ownership of the Hanged Man. His Annoyed frown morphs into a smile when he sees Merrill, Isabela, and Hawke walk into the suite heading for their seats at the far end of the table where three mugs of ale sit waiting for them. He picks up the deck of cards lying next to his mug as he nods his head to them as he , “So what is it tonight Wicked Grace or Diamond Back,”

Hawke sits forward and grabs her mug of ale before taking a long pull from it before he says, “Before we start, Merrill, Isabela and I have made a small wager that we were hoping you could help us with,” When Aveline starts to open her mouth to say something Hawke quickly says, “It isn’t about sex. It is actually about your ages,”

Five sets of eyes look at her with varying degrees of confusion in them before Anders asks, “What about our ages?”

Hawke looks over at Merrill and asks, “Can I tell them?”

Merrill looks over the rim of her mug at Hawke and blinks a few times before she asks, “Tell them what?”

Hawke gives the little elf an enduring smile before she says, “Your age,”

Merrill lowers the mug and gives her lover a smile and says, “Oh I don’t mind,”

Hawke smiles at her elven lover before looking back at their friends as she continues, “Well I just found out today that Merrill is thirty-nine years old,” She pauses to allow the rest of her friends to voice their shock and disbelief before looking at Isabela giving her a nod then turns and looks at Merrill motioning for her to cover her ears. The second the little mage covers her ears a loud piercing whistle bringing the raised voices to an abrupt stop.

Hawke smiles at everyone who are now glaring at her before she says, “Alright, we just need everyone to give us their ages or in Fenris’ case the closes estimation. So will you all help us?”

Aveline takes a drink form her mug before she says, “Thirty-Two. I’m thirty-two years old,”

Varric lets out a chuckle before shrugging his shoulders and says, “Thirty,”

“I do not condone gambling or the sin you three will get up to with this bet you have going but I know you will…”

Hawke rolls her eyes as she groans in annoyance before she says, “Save the sermon and tells us your age,”

Sebastian gives Hawke an annoyed glare as he says, “Thirty-Six,”

Merrill’s ears drop a little as she lets out a little disappointed sigh knowing she lost already. She lifts her head and gives Hawke a smile when she feels the warrior grab her hand under the table. 

Fenris rolls his eyes it is obvious who just lost their bet. He grabs his mug and takes a drink as he tries calculating the closest estimation to his age. If he is right he was sixteen when got his marks, he spent elven more years in his master’s service, a year and half with the Fog Warriors, three years on the run and another three years in Kirkwall. He adds the numbers in his head twice before he says, “I am about thirty-four. Give or take a year or two,”

Isabela throws herself back in her chair as she growls out, “Blast it,”

Merrill gets up out of her chair and walks around Hawke to Isabela and nimbly crawls into the pirate queen’s lap. She wraps her arms around Isabale’s neck as she gives her a quick kiss on the lips before moving her mouth to Isabela’s ear and whispers promises of going to The Rose with her anyway. Isabela smiles at this and kisses Merrill before promising to go on the picnic she wants as well.

As Merrill and Isabela continue whispering to each other while Fenris and Sebastian talk quietly to each other either about Tevinter or the Chantry with them it was hard to tell. While Aveline grabs the deck of cards out of Varric’s hands and begins checking them while the dwarf lets out an indigent sound and starts to protest but is silenced with a stern glare from the Guard Captain. Hawke however is looking at Anders with a raised eyebrow waiting for the mage to tell them his age.

Anders shrugs his before he take a drink of the tea from his mug then says, “I’m twenty-one,”

Anders begins shifting uncomfortably in his seat as seven sets of eyes stare at him with various amounts of shock. 

Fenris is the first to break the silence as he yells, “Twenty-one? You’re only twenty-one?”

Anders jumps at Fenris anger which also brings everyone else out of their stupors and in a second the room into noise and activity. Isabela jumps out of her seat dumping Merrill on the ground with an indigent squeak which the pirate ignores as a look of growing horror crosses her face which slowly morphs into a look of disgust before she flees the room. Merrill slowly pulls herself off the floor rubbing her lower back before lowering herself into Isabela’s abandon chair wondering why she reacted the way she did. Anders tries deciphering what everyone yelling questions at him save for Fenris who looks like he is getting angrier and angrier by the second and panic starts to settle in his heart thinking about what could possibly be the reason for his lover’s anger. Is he angry at him, is this the one thing Fenris’ can’t accept about him. Just as he is about reach out to the elf to try and calm him he is interrupted by Aveline yelling, “Quite!”

The room falls silent as all eyes turn to the Guard Captain who glares at everyone for several long seconds before her eyes soften and says, “If you are only twenty-one that means you were only eighteen when you came to Kirkwall,”

Anders nods his head unable to answer any other since Aveline actually terrifies him, not that he would ever admit that to anyone.

Aveline nods her head before continuing, “That means you were what, seventeen when you joined the wardens. Did they know you were little more that a child when you joined,”

Anger races through Anders as he answers, “I wasn’t a child! I haven’t been a child since I was thirteen,”

Fenris jumps up screaming in Tevinter as he starts pacing the length of the room for several minutes no one moves, most are too afraid of what the elf will do to them save for Anders knows it is best to let Fenris work out some of his anger. Anders steps into Fenris’ path when the elf begins to slow down meaning his anger has waned some. He gently places his hands on Fenris’ shoulders as he asks, “Love what’s wrong? Are you angry at me because…”

Fenris takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly not wanting to yell at Anders nor reveal more than his mage wants their friends to know about his past so he chose his words carefully as he speaking in Tevinter, “I did not know you were that young when…you hurt like that,”

Anders smiles at Fenris before leaning forward giving him a quick kiss before answer in Tevinter, “That didn’t happen until later,” then switches back to Common tongue, “I was thirteen when I went through the Harrowing,”

“The Harrowing? That doesn’t sound fun,” Merrill says as she blinks at Anders.

His smile drops a little as he shivers before he says, “It’s not. A Harrowing is when they take an apprentice mage and force them into the fade to face a demon. It is barbaric but it also meant in the circle I was an adult,”

The looks of horror return to everyone’s face when they hear this and the first one to speak is Hawke who asks, “Is it normal to be so young?”

Anders shakes his head and he starts to answer but Fenris starts pacing again. He lets out sigh as he turns to Hawke and says, “I will answer these questions later but I think I need to get Fernis home before he rips Varric’s room apart,” He walks up to Fenris taking his lover by the shoulder and starts leading him out of the room and calls out over his shoulder, “Sorry for ruining card night,”

The remaining group members in the room shift uncomfortably in the room until the siliecn is broken when Aveline slams her fist down the table before she yells, “That bloody pervert! He is lucky he is dead already or I would cut his balls off and feed them to him!”

Hawke blinks at Aveline in confusion several times before she asks, “What are you talking about Aveline?”

“That mage Anders wanted us to help him save. His former lover. That man was in his forties!” Aveline growls her face as red as her hair.

Hawke remembers that and how sorry she felt for the mage being made tranquil like that but that flies out the window. If he was in his forties when they first helped Anders, who was only eighteen, means that he had to be in his thirties when he and Anders were together. Hawke fights back the bile that raises in her throat which makes her remember how Isabela ran from the room the way she did. She swallows the bile down before reaching for Merrill as she says, “I want to stop thinking about this now. Come on Merrill lets go check on Isabela,”

The two women walk into Isabela’s room and they find Isabela sitting on her bed looking like she is about to be sick. Merrill rushes across their lover while Hawke closes and locks the door before making her way over to her lovers. She sits on the bed on Isabela’s unoccupied side as she asks her what’s wrong.

Isabela takes a deep breath as she says, “I slept with Anders. It was years ago. I guess during one of his escapes. I thought I was older then he was. I mean all the things he could do…I had no idea he was a child. I’m no better then my mother,”

Hawke grabs Isabela and pulls her to into a hug as she says, “You are not your mother Izzy! Like you said you didn’t know how young he was. If you did you probably would have shanghaied him then burned down the pearl for making a child work there,”

Isabela starts to protest but Hawke cuts her off with a kiss, after breaking the kiss she starts pulling her toward the center of the bed as she says, “Let’s get some sleep and we will talk about this in the morning,”

The three women lay down on the bed with Isabela between Merrill and Marian. After a couple of minute shifting to get comfortable they begin to drift off until Merrill asks, “What about Fenris?”

Hawke keeps her eyes close as she mumbles, “What about Fernis?”

“What is he going to do when he realizes that Isabela slept with him?”

Isabela and Hawke’s eyes fly open as they shoot up out of the bed and start toward her dresser. Merrill sits on the bed watching them in confusion as she watches her lover hurriedly packing bags. 

“What are you doing?”

Hawke turns toward her elven lover her eyes wide and face pale as she says, “A vacation!”

Merrill smiles and claps her hands excitedly as she jumps form her bed as she starts to help as she asks, “Where are we going?”

Without stopping shoving clothes and things around her room into the bag in her hand as she says, “Doesn’t matter! We are just getting as far from Kirkwall as possible!”

Merrill pauses in her packing as she asks, “For how long?”

Hawke pauses in her packing grabbing her lover by the shoulders as she says, “For as long as it takes Fenris to calm down,”

Merrill quickly continues helping her two lover’s packing as she says, “I am going to miss Kirkwall,”

Varric looks up when he hears three sets of feet running down the hall and is surprised to see Merrill, Isabela and Hawke faces pale in panic and fear their arms leaden in bags as they run down the stairs. He jumps out of his seat and runs to the door calling out for them, asking them where they are going.

All three women stop half way don’t the stairs and as one turn to face the dwarf. Hawke turns around and runs up the stairs and kneels next to Varric and explains quickly as what they just realized and what they were doing before standing and the three women rush out of the room to find the fastest way out of the city.

Varric sighs as he watches the three women disappear out of the door. He turns and starts back into his room closing the door behind him as he mutters, “Damn. This city is screwed. They are never coming back,”


End file.
